Europe 1 with AFP 4:48 p.m., March 18, 2024
The French Observatory on Attacks on Press Freedom (Ofalp), an association bringing together journalists, specialized organizations and members of civil society, was launched on Monday in Paris.
The structure wishes to bring together journalists and associations in order to produce reports on attacks on freedom of information.
The French Observatory on Attacks on Press Freedom (Ofalp), an association bringing together journalists, specialized organizations and members of civil society, was launched on Monday in Paris.
Created in November 2023 at the end of the Press Conference in Bordeaux, the association aims to identify, list and centralize data relating to obstacles to freedom of information and the pressures suffered by journalists in the exercise of their job.
Produce reports on attacks on freedom of information
“We started from a feeling, which is that of a worrying increase in attacks on press freedom,” declared Olivier Scaglia, journalist for the daily Le Télégramme and member of the association's office.
“It is to get away from this diffuse feeling that we have chosen to rationalize the monitoring of these attacks by qualifying them, by categorizing them,” explained Olivier Scaglia.
“In short, to do our job as journalists,” added Lucile Berland, journalist member of the office and secretary of the association Informer is not an offense (INPD).
The structure wishes to bring together journalists and associations in order to produce reports on attacks on freedom of information, "brought together under four main categories", explains Cécile Dolman, journalist and co-president of Ofalp: "legal attacks such as gag procedures, obstruction of information work, attacks on the physical and moral integrity of journalists, censorship and pressure exerted on journalists or their editorial staff.
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Independence of work guaranteed
The association aims to be open to all, with a few exceptions: companies cannot join, including those in the press sector, in order to guarantee the independence of the work.
"The project is inspired in particular by initiatives which work to identify and record obstacles to freedom of information, such as the NGO Freedom House in the United States, the European Center for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF ) or the barometer of press freedom from the association Reporters Without Borders (RSF)", member of Ofalp, adds Lucile Berland.
The association announced that it was working on a first annual report on attacks on freedom of information and to develop other advocacy and awareness-raising actions.
On March 13, the European Parliament adopted groundbreaking media freedom legislation designed to protect journalists and combat political interference in editorial decisions.
During the negotiations, France in particular insisted on including a possibility of exception "in the name of safeguarding national security", arousing concern among the profession and defenders of press freedom.
The scope of these exemptions was ultimately limited, and the text does not mention national security.